Pittsburgh Man Pleads Guilty To Racketeering Charges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2011

WASHINGTON ‑ A resident of Pittsburgh, Penn., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to conspiring to conduct a racketeering enterprise, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Kevin Underwood, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy before Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond in Pittsburgh.

According to the guilty plea, Underwood participated in an enterprise, the activities of which affected interstate and foreign commerce, through a pattern of racketeering activity. The enterprise's activities included multiple acts involving robbery, attempted murder, distribution of controlled substances including cocaine, heroin and crack cocaine, and acts of obstruction of justice and intimidation. Underwood is one of 26 defendants charged in February 2010 with being members of, and conducting racketeering activity through, a criminal organization known as the Brighton Place/Northview Heights Crips street gang that operated on the north side of Pittsburgh.

Underwood is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21, 2011, at 10 a.m. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles A. Eberle and Troy Rivetti of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorney Kevin Rosenberg of the Criminal Division's Gang Unit.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the City of Pittsburgh Police Department; the Allegheny County, Penn., Police Department; and the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office.